Food

Artie sat on a stool at the bar where his dad was serving drinks. "Hey Pop. It's another busy night."

Fenwick reached over the bar for a hug. "I miss my bar but you can't beat this crowd. How did the training go today?"

"The new recruits are real green. Most of them know how to shoot but they were farmers 3 weeks ago. The hunters with experience are off with Ardelis checking on Pale Gear and Jung is out on a special mission for Lavani. None of us got the details where he was going. That leaves me to turn the recruits into Ardelis' Arrows."

"It's a tall order. They say Ardelis' Arrows don't miss." Fenwick said with a smile. Before Artie had finished with his update there was a tankard of ale and a hot bowl of soup in front of him. "You got this son. I'm proud of you."

"Flora, thank you so much." Hanna took the pot of stew, bread, and a bag of nuts from her. "We really appreciate your hospitality after, after losing our home and..."

Flora put her hand up, "Hanna, with what you and your family endured, it's the least we can do." Flora turned to head out the door as Hilda, Airy, Milred and Pip filed in from the back room to get dinner. Hilda put her arm around Hanna's shoulders. "We are blessed. Thank you Flora. Tell Holmes I'll be at the Tavern first thing in the morning to help out." Flora nodded.

Airy and Milred sat quietly at the table. The youngest, Pip, looked at them and then to her moms. "When will Airy's parents get here?"

Hanna sat Pip at the table. "I don't know." She paused for a moment then got out the bag of nuts. "Let's try out these peanuts that Flora brought."

Yelsin locked the door on his shop and headed down the street to the grocer. You could find dry goods at the grocer such as spices, salt, sugar, some tinned or canned foods, tea, occasionally coffee, and candy. Candy was what he needed. He had quite a sweet tooth but more importantly he kept his candy jar full for the children running by his shop. It was nice to have an excuse to see Freda almost every day too.

She had started baking every day to help the town keep up with the influx of refugees. If he timed it just right, when she was finishing up a batch of bread, she would sit with him and they would have a cup of tea with a piece of hot bread together.

The bell on the door jingled as Yelsin entered. The smell of bread was in the air. Freda peaked around the corner "I have a pot of water on, have a seat. I'll be out in a minute!" Yelsin smiled.

Antum had to dispel the magic on the plate. He needed to take it up to the apprentice's quarters but the finicky glyph was not cooperating. The plate shattered into five pieces and many small bits when the magic finally gave out. The wizard sat for a minute to regroup.

A few minutes later he teleported to the next floor with a hot plate of food. "Sophie, I wrangled the best plate of food for you." The small in stature druid sat crosslegged in one of the empty apprentice rooms. It made her seem tiny.

"Antum, I don't deserve your hospitality." She shlumped forward.

"We can't always win. We won't always be perfect." He sat the plate on the floor in front of her. "We can only keep trying." He gently slid the plate toward her.

The door creaked and light filled the room as May entered her grandmother's farmhouse. "Sorry, I'm late Grandma!" May dropped her bag on a chair and hurried to the kitchen. The smell of Honey Nut Rooibos tea had already filled the house. Grandma knew how to make it perfect.

"Oh May, glad you are safe!" Her grandmother started pouring three cups of tea as light filled the kitchen. "Oh May! Your hand is glowing."

Lavani, the new Mayor of Montsilt, came in behind May. "Yes, May seems to have summoned the light to her hand. That certainly scared off the ice pixies."